MICHIGAN — If you are a deer hunter here in Michigan, you know there are some changes coming our way. And, if you are anything like me, you have questions.
That's why I reached out to Mark Kenyon.
As Director of Conservation for the outdoor media company MeatEater, the author, podcaster, Michigan native, and whitetail addict knows what he is talking about when it comes to the whitetail woods.
“ So the one-buck rule is obviously something that's getting a lot of attention from Michigan hunters, and rightly so," Mark told me. "It's it's one of the most significant changes we've had here in the state, maybe as long as I've been alive, and as a hunter, I've been hunting since I was three years old. So I guess that's you know I was going up to deer camp starting in 1990. So this is a pretty substantial change,"
Yes, I think it is too.
Starting in 2027, hunters will be limited to one buck per season with the chance to earn a second.
A move the Department of Natural Resources and others hope will lead to hunters taking more antlerless deer, which should help us hunters and the state to better manage the overall deer population.
But Kenyon thinks the move could also help grow more deer that hunters dream about.
“There will be other people who, in the past, maybe would have shot the first buck they saw, and then held on to that second buck tag to wait for a bigger deer. I think those people will be the ones that we'll see kind of change their behavior a little bit, and because of that, we'll be passing on those younger bucks, leading to more bucks making it to the next year," Kenyon said. "And the next year, there'll be more older age class bucks in the future, which will, you know, lead to likely a better hunting experience for a lot of people that like to see that more balanced age structure.”
WATCH INTERVIEW WITH MARK KENYON
Another major change that we can expect this upcoming season was unexpected to many of us hunters. The removal of the rifle line.
“I wasn't hearing anybody down here, you know, screaming for long distance, you know, rifles, asking for 308s and 30 out sixes and 6.5 Creedmoors and Lord knows what," Kenyon said.
Until this upcoming season, generally high-powered rifles were banned in the Southern portion of the Lower Peninsula. I know I grew up being told the line was there for safety reasons because of the larger population down here. But the Natural Resource Commission made the change sighting an evolution in hunting practices, equipment, and safety from when the line was put in place. And it is a change that Mark hopes has hunters acting responsibly.
“It's a privilege, and it's a privilege that we need to carefully steward by being smart, by being safe, by being conscientious, and making sure that we are not, you know, putting a black eye on this lifestyle, this activity. And so now that we have access to new tools, let's make sure we're doing so safely.”
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